


in short shallow gasps

by aisu10



Category: The Avengers (2012), The Matrix (1999 2003 2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cardiophilia, Crossover, Heartbeat Kink, M/M, The Matrix - Freeform, aortic insufficiency, aortic regurgitation, auscultation kink, enjoy my g-rated porn, heart defect, heart porn, murmurs are cool, oops heart porn again, yeah whatever you get it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-28
Updated: 2012-10-28
Packaged: 2017-11-17 06:12:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/548463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aisu10/pseuds/aisu10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In his weakness he is also the strongest of them all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in short shallow gasps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rejuvenescenceia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rejuvenescenceia/gifts).



> for Lotus in honor of her birthday! The Matrix au is her creation, and she's got lots of drabbles from it on [her blog](http://northernlotus.tumblr.com/) that you should totally read because they're amazing!
> 
> sorry everything i write is heart porn omg.
> 
> also you'll probably need to know - Tony was born in the real world and cannot enter the Matrix, while Bruce was born in the Matrix and freed by the crew of The Avenger, a ship captained by Steve Rogers (and the rest of the Avengers team of course). Tony is the Operator who writes programs and is in charge of getting the crew in and out of the Matrix and monitoring them while they're online.

Tony tells him his heart is weak, but Bruce has a hard time believing it. The aortic insufficiency that Tony was born with causes a regurgitation of blood through a flimsy valve, and because of it his heart needs to pound and leap and _fight_ to keep a satisfactory amount of blood circulating. His bounding pulse, felt easily by Bruce when making any kind of contact with the Operator's body, can only be described as strong.

Bruce has even seen Tony's heartbeat before. Tony just vibrates with it, _moves_ with it, as if each pump of his heart were an ocean wave crashing into him from the inside. When he's sitting at the computer, reading or typing code, his head bobs to the beat, and Bruce can spot it even from afar. It's involuntary and spontaneous and beautiful, something that until now Bruce had never seen in or out of the Matrix. Maybe hearts in the real world are more powerful - more _persuasive_ than the Matrix led him to believe - or maybe it was just Tony. 

Still, for all its strength, fatigue is a serious problem for Tony's defective pump. A particularly difficult retrieval from the Matrix one day sends Tony's heart into a frenzy. His adrenaline spikes as he races to awaken his friends, and his already pounding heart struggles to provide him with more blood but it keeps rushing back, getting away, seeping through the barely-closed valve and not getting anywhere. It's working twice - thrice - four times as hard - Tony can tell because he can _feel_ it, the actual frantic movement of it within his chest, the press of its slightly enlarged left side against his ribs - and he starts to feel lightheaded, dizzy, uncoordinated. He gets Bruce out of the Matrix just in time but he's already down, sliding to the metal floor in exhaustion. He can't hear Bruce calling his name over the erratic pounding in his ears, but he can feel Bruce's arms wrapping around him as his eyes flutter shut. 

Bruce administers the necessary drugs to counteract Tony's anxiety, calm his struggling heart and allow him to rest. When Tony wakes up hours later, he's been moved to a bed and Bruce sits beside him, watching anxiously as he coughs a couple of times and gasps for breath. Bruce gets him water, runs his hands through Tony's scruffy brown hair, and holds his wrist to feel his pulse. 

"You really scared me back there. You scared all of us." 

"Yeah?" Tony mumbles unhappily, "It wasn't my fault." 

"I know. Your heart made a valiant effort, but it only caused you to pass out." 

Tony presses a hand into his chest, squeezing his fingers over the guilty organ. "It hurts." 

"It'll feel better soon. I put painkillers in your water." 

Tony nods, lowering his hand and leaning back against the wall. "You're really good at this stuff." Bruce notes that his head is bobbing slightly in time with his heartbeat again. 

"I'm just glad I know enough to be able to help," Bruce admits. He'd studied medicine for a bit but his glitch had caused him to start moving from place to place and he'd never finished school. His only practical experience before becoming the unofficial medic of The Avenger had been at the clinics he'd volunteered at. 

"Hey, let me listen," Bruce says as he slips a stethoscope into his ears. It isn't as nice as the one he had in the Matrix but it's better than nothing. Tony straightens up a bit and peels off his sweaty shirt, exposing his naked chest to Bruce for examination. The movement of Tony's heart is visible beneath his skin and Bruce places the diaphragm over the vibrating area, listening to each region of his heart in turn. The sound that invades his ears and overpowers his senses is startlingly loud and fast, a harsh lub- _whoosh_ that repeats in an irregular rhythm, trying to catch and keep up with the amount of escaping blood. Bruce suspects that it's so loud because it's attempting to push out much more blood than a regular heart is due to its enlarged lower left chamber. Its beating is as uneven as the pattern of Tony's labored breathing. Bruce's own breath catches in his throat as Tony inflates his lungs and his heart rate momentarily picks up in response, accidentally causing a longer rush of blood and practically tripping over itself as it tries to rectify the situation. Tony takes a few shallow breaths and groans. Bruce removes the stethoscope from Tony's chest and is greeted with the empty silence of the Avenger's quarters. He places it aside and sighs. 

"It's the same as it always is," Bruce tells him, which is not good, but at least it's not bad. "You should rest for a couple of days. I'll tell Steve that we can't go on any high-stress missions until you're back in shape." 

"Fine," Tony grumbles. He slowly lays back down on the bed, trying to even out his shallow breathing as he does. Bruce gets him another pillow and holds his head up gently as he slides it underneath. 

"Keeping yourself elevated should help with the shortness of breath." 

"Thanks." 

Bruce can tell Tony's real sore about all this, and he decides that the best idea is to simply leave him alone. He gets up to leave but Tony catches his hand. 

"Stay," Tony demands. Bruce can feel his pulse through his fingertips. 

"Alright." Tony tugs him into the bed with him, pulling him close like a giant teddy bear. For all the cuddling they've done, Bruce is starting to think that Tony actually believes he is one. 

Bruce rests his head over Tony's heart, feeling it leap forward to meet him. The sound of rushing blood enters his ears again and his eyes fall to half-mast as he listens. Despite what it means for Tony's health, the sound sure is captivating. 

"I can feel it. All the time," Tony murmurs, one hand running through Bruce's newly-regrown curls. "I'm always - _aware_. And it's just a constant reminder of how weak I am." 

"You're not weak," Bruce replies instantly, and it's a statement, not something to argue with. "Your heart works harder than any of us." 

"It's still defective." 

"And you're still alive, so I don't see any problem with that." 

Tony chuckles darkly, his fingers now tracing the plug at the back of Bruce's neck. "It won't last forever." 

"You'll get surgery eventually," Bruce insists. "When we take back the world." 

"That could be a long time from now." 

"You'll make it. I promise." 

"I just wish I could help more. If I can't even extract you guys without passing out, then what's the point?" 

"You're invaluable to this team, Tony. Remember what you told me when we first met? You're the best programmer on the planet. You know the Matrix better than I ever will - and I've _lived_ in it." 

Tony's heartbeat seems to pound a little more confidently at that. Despite the blood escaping it, it's doing its job, bringing blood to Tony's arms and legs and throat, and the way Bruce is wrapped up in Tony's embrace he can feel his pulse everywhere at once. 

"You're strong, Tony. The strongest one here." Bruce twists his head up to press a kiss to Tony's jawline. Maybe someday Tony will believe it. Until then, Bruce will just keep reminding him.


End file.
